Epstein Secrets

Mohammad Javad Zarifs verbal commitments to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in support of the Geneva Communique as a basis for settlement. Perhaps Tehran is concerned that if it accepts the communique, Washington would then highlight the other reason why Iran's presence at the Syria talks is inappro

Whatever the case, the attempt to include Iran in the talks should come as no surprise -- for months, UN Special Representative for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi has privately and publicly lobbied Western and Arab countries to allow Iran into the Geneva process. While Secretary of State John Kerry has said t

bilateral talks. The visit followed a week after President Zardari and Prime Minister Singh met on the margins of the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Tehran August 30-31. While claims of Pakistani complicity in the November 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack cast a shadow in recent years over a long history of

inue despite warnings from the United Nations' leadership. While political negotiations seem an unlikely possibility, joint UN and Arab League envoy Brahimi held talks in Syria from September 13-16th. Yemen: A leader (reportedly second in command) of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Saeed al-Shihri, w

ands, the thinking holds, would fracture the Western alliance that has generated an impressive sanctions regime. Moreover, this thinking continues, Tehran may walk away from the table, raising the specter of another conflict in the Middle East. The sensibilities of U.S. allies and the temperament of t

. (Assad even seized the assets of the opposition's negotiators while they were in Geneva and declared some of those negotiators to be terrorists.) Brahimi thought, as few leaders do, of actual Syrians. "I am ev ry, ev ry sorry, and I apologize to the Syrian mule," he movingly said. Brahimi had done h

gin real step-by-step diplomacy involving Iran giving up its low-enriched uranium in exchange for progressive sanctions relief were lost. What was Tehran to think when "the sum total of three major rounds of diplomatic negotiation was that America would give some bits and bobs of old aircraft in exch

ncluding two missions led by Kofi Annan and Lakhdar Brahimi, two diplomats of the highest standing. Thanks to inside knowledge, we can report that Brahimi has offered the fairest and the most realistic compromise formula. More recently, Moaz Al-Khatib, the nominal head of the Syrian opposition, has go

bilateral talks. The visit followed a week after President Zardari and Prime Minister Singh met on the margins of the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Tehran August 30-31. While claims of Pakistani complicity in the November 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack cast a shadow in recent years over a long history o

nue despite warnings from the United Nations' leadership. While political negotiations seem an unlikely possibility, joint UN and Arab League envoy Brahimi held talks in Syria from September 13-1e. Yemen: A leader (reportedly second in command) of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Saeed al-Shihri, wa